vayasseur



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. VAVASSEUR.

GUN MOUNTING.

Patented July 20, 1886.

2 Sheets-Sheet, 2.

(No Model.)

J. VAVASSEUR.

GUN MOUNTING.

No. 345,744. Patented July 20, 1886.

Wzbzwemr UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE.

JOSIAH VAVASSEUR, OF SOUTHWARK, COUNTY OF SURREY, ENGLAND.

GUN-MOUNTINGL SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 345,744,dated July 20, 1886.

Application filed February :6, 1886. Serial No. 193,289. (No model.) i

training-gear in the same way as an ordinary slide. There are standardsupon this lower portion 'of the mounting, and these receive trunnionsformed upon aguide-frame or truntravel in the guides of the nion-framewithin which the gun, which is without the usually-provided trunnions,is able to recoil. At its fore end the guide-frame carries anarmor-plate shield with a hole or embrasure through which the gunprojects. The trunnioned guide-frame at its rear end is supported byelevating-screws passing through trunnion-nutsjointed to the guide-'franie. On the elevating-screws at their lower ends are beveled pinionsengaging with corresponding pinions upon a horizontal axis, whichreceives its motion from a hand-wheel through suitable gear; or, inplace of employing elevating-sorews with nuts, racks and pinions may beused, but less conveniently. The recoil of'the gun is controlled byhydraulic compressors. The cylinders of these are preferably secured tothe gun by clips passing around it. The piston-rods pass out from thecylinders at their fore ends, and are fixed to the armor-plate shield orto the fore part of the trunnioned, guide-frame. I Springs are alsoprovided which are compressed by the gun when it reooils. The springsare arranged upon rods or spindles fixed to the armor-plate shield, andlugs upon the clip which secures the'hydraulic cylinders to the gun abutupon these springs. Preferably the compressorcylinders'are secured oneon either side of the gun, andthe cylinders form the blocks to trunnionframe whenthe gun recoils, and afterward returns by the operation of thesprings. The'buflersprings are of sufiicient power and range to returnthe gun to the firing position, even when elevated to ahigh angle, andto maintain it there. Thefiring position to which the gun is brought bythe reaction of the springs is controlled by stops fixed to the shieldor to the trunnion or guide frame, and these stops are adjustable, so.that when the gun is forward the balance of the parts about thetrunnions may be such as to admit of the gun being elevated or depressedby rocking the trunnioned frame bya moderate force applied to theelevating-gear. In this arrangement it will be seen that the recoil inno way interferes with the elevating-gear, and takes place in an axialdirection, whatever may be the position of the gun when it is fired. Tocon trol the return of the gun after recoil Iprovide onone of thepistons of the hydraulic compressors, on the side opposite to thepistonrod, a trunk of larger diameter than this rod. This trunk passesthrough the end of the cylinder by a suitable packed joint. As the trunkentersthe cylinder during recoil some of the liquid'contents isnecessarily ejected. I provide a passage longitudinally through thetrunk, by which this liquid passes out. The other piston of thehydraulic compressor I also, in like manner, provide with a trunk; butin this case the trunk is of smaller diameter than the piston-rod,consequently when, during therecoil, the piston-rod emerges from thecylinder, although the trunk at the same time enters a void, space isleft within the cylinder, or would be left if provision were not made tofill it. I make use of this space to receive the liquid ejected from theother cylinder of the hydraulic compressor. The liquid enters thereceiving-cylinder by a passage through the trunk similar to that whichleads the liquid out of the other cylinder. I connect the two trunks byapipe, in the course of which a valve-box is provided containinga valve.This valve allows the ejected liquid to pass freely from cylinder tocylinder during recoil; but'it prevents return when the gun tends tomove in the opposite direction. The gun cousequently'cannot run outuntil this valve is lifted, or'until a by-pass is opened for the liquid,which is usually more conve ient.-

In order that my said invention may be most fully understood and readilycarried into effect, I will proceed to describe the drawings hereuntoannexed. In the drawings, l igga re 1 is a side view of agun-mounting.Fig. 2 is a plan of same. j

, on which'the gun is mounted. The mounting may alsobe arranged to workon a front pivot.

- The under frame, a, is supported on trainingrollersd, and is trainedfrom thehandwvheel through spur-wheels cc e, which drive the on thetubular pivot b; On the axles of the -training-rollers (Z are fittedclipsf, to prevent the lift of the mounting when the gun -iired. On thebase aare placed standards r ceivc trunnions it, formed upon aguide-frame,- III-7 within which the gun 2' can recoil. The gun is madewithout trunnions, and is held in a strap, 7:, forming part of theslidingblo'cksk. The trunnion guide-frame h, while adaptedto rock, docsnotreeiprocatc. It is fitted, with f guiding-tongues h",on whichtheblocks 7c work,

and these serve to keep the two parts or opposite sides of theguide-frames from spreading apart out of position .when thc gun isfired. At its fore end the t'ruunioned cradle-like guide-frame I!carries an armor-plate 13, pro

vided with a hole or embrasure, t, through which the gun projects.

The rocking non-re.

- eiprocating truunioned guide-frame atits rear end is supported byclcvating screws m, passing through trunnionnuts m, jointed :to theguide-frame h. at its upper part- The nutsm aresplit, so that by meansof'thc clamp-nuts uni-any play-due to wear may be suppressed.

The elevating-screws work in bearingsm, ca

pable of turning on the pivots on, carried in "liie'arings in thestandard y; The lower. ends.

of the elevating-screws are provided with Q 'bevel-piiiions in",engaging with 1 corresponding pinions m upon the horizontal shaft m.

This shaft is carried inbearings, those at the outer ends being formedon m, and-the inner bearing, on, being keyed on the endsof the pivol'sm,so that the whole of these hearings H and the shaft m with thebevel-wheel turn on the pivots-m, following the fore-and-aft move- Iinent given to the'screws m as the nutsmwork up and down in ascircular'path described. Motion is given to the screws-n1 from thehandwvhcclm"; placed at the end of the shaft in'" suflicient'ly from thecenter of thctrunnions Ii.

to thcrrear to=bc clear of the gun 'atthe end of recoil. .fllie shaft mfdrives the bevel-pinion m, gearing with the corresponding pin ion m" onthe-horizontal shaft m. The shaft m is by preference made so as to bereadily it is clamped by the bolt m. The bearing m for theishaft m isformed on the innerlbearing,

721 of the horizontal shaft m In place of using screws for elevating, as

shown iby these drawings, racks and pinions may be, employed, but not soconveniently.

- 7 The recoil of the gun is controlled by hydraulic compressors, thecylinders of which are secured to the gun and recoil with it. The

' cylinders may either be formed in one piece with the straps 7c andguide-blocks 7;, or may be inserted in those blocks and secured by beingscrewed into them, as shown, or inany.

equivalent way. The piston-rods a pass out of the cylinders at the foreend, and are Secured by the nuts a n to the armor-plate t, or

they may be secured to the fore end of the I guide-frame Ir. worm 0',gearing with the worm-wheel 0", fixed The pistons and valves n", forcontrolling recoil, I make by preference according to my well-knownsystem.that is to say, I provide Z passages in the pistons and disks tocover these I passages; VVheu the piston movesalong the provided withtrunnion-bearingsg, which re- 2 cylinder, the disk is turned around uponthe piston by the operation of rifle-grooves with- 1 inthe cylinder, sothat, during recoil the pasi sages are progressively closed. Both thepiston-rods are arranged to act in'tensiou during recoil, and, in orderto keep the cylinders full ing the gun in at the end of recoihand tocontrol the speed atwhich it is to return to the firing position, I makeon one of the pistons at, on the side opposite to the'piston-rod, atrunk, or, of larger diameter than the red at. T he trunk n passesthrough thc'end of the cylinder by a suitably-packed joint, 11.

As the trunk a enters the cylinder during recoil some of the liquidcontents is necessarily ejected. I provide a passage, a longitudinallythrough .the trunk, by which this liquid passes out.

The piston a of the opposite hydraulic cylinder I also in like mannerprovide with atrunk, a; but in this case the trunk is of smallerdiameter than the piston rod a, consequently,'when*during' the recoilthe piston-rod it emerges from the cylinder, although the trunk m atthe'sainetime enters a void, space is left within the cylinder, whichspace is employed to receive the liquid ejected from the othercylinder.', The liquid passes to the receiving cylinder during recoil bythepassage it through the connecting-pipe a to the passagenin the trunk12". The relative volumes of the trunksn n are arranged so'that theirsum is equal to the'volunues of the two piston-rods a and theirdifference as small aspossible, regard being had to the pressuregenerated inthe receivingcylin'der when-the gun is held in'at the end ofrecoil. In-the course-of the connecting-pipe I fit avalve-box, n,havingra .valve, it, held lightly on its seat by a-springgso thatitrises and allows the liquid to pass freely to the re- Iof liquid, andalso to provideameans of holdceiving-cylinder during recoil,- but closesand prevents its return whenjthegun tends to-run out. The gun isconsequently held in and cahnot run out until the valvea islifted; butinorder to avoid disturbing this valve I provide a by-passwithascrew-plug, a, in apassagecommunicating with the passage or, andentering the valve-box below the valve a"; By raising the screw-plug nthe liquid in the receivingcyliuder can pass back to the oppositecylinder, and the gun may go out; or, if the screwplug is closed beforefiring, the gun will remain in. The mounting is arranged so that at allangles of elevation the gun recoils in the line of fire. To run the gunout again, springspare provided. These are compressed during recoil bymeans of the brackets 1), formed on the straps or sliding blocks k Theyare arranged upon rods p secured at the fore end to the armor-plate i ormay be secured to the guideframe 71/. The necessary compression is givento the springs p to keep the gun in the firing position at the greatestangle of elevation and insures its running out by means of the nuts 1).A plate, 1), secured to the guide-frame h supports the rear ends oftherods 11 The firing position to which the gun is brought by the reactionof the springs is controlled by the adjustable stop q,(more or less,)fitted t0 the shield 15 or placed'in any other suitable position. Acircular shield, r, with port 1', for the gun to pass through, is shownsecured to the standard 8 by side wings, r, giving additional lateralprotection. Hinged doors 1- are provided in these wings to give accessto the front of the mounting. It is so arranged that when the gun is infiringposition the balance of the parts about the truffnions h may besuch as to admit of the gun being elevated or depressed'by a moderateforce applied to the elevating-gear. It will also be seen that therecoil of the gun in no. way interferes with the elevating-gear.

forth, of the under frame, atrunnioned frame having its trunnionsmounted in bearings of the said under frame, the truunionless gun withinthe trunnioned frame and recoiling along it, and hydraulic compressorswhich con trol the movement of the gun, as set forth.

3. The combination, substantially asset ,forth, of the under frame, thetrunnioned frame having its trunnions mounted in bearings of the saidunder frame, the trunnionless gun within and rccoiling along thetrunnioned frame, the springs which return the gun to the firingposition, and lhe'hydraulic compressors for controlling the movements ofthe gun, as set forth.

4. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the under frame, thetrunnioned frame having its'trunuions mounted in bearings of the underframe, the t'runnionless gun within and rccoiling along the trunnionedframe, and the elevating-gear which connects the trunnioned frame andthe under frame.

5. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the under frame, thetrunnioned frame having its trunnions mounted in beau ings of the underframe, the armor-plateshield fixed to the trunnioned frame and partakingof its movements, and the trunnionless gun Within and recoiling alongthe frame.

6. The combination, substantially as set forth, of the trunnionless gun,the trunnioned trunnioned frame within which the gun is mounted and-JOSIAH vAvAssnUn.

Witnesses:

HERBERT E. DALE, W. JAMES SKERTEN.

Both of 17 Graccchm'chflt, [ma/n, (C

